U.S. official says: recognition of Kosovo slow, Belgrade should help us

[Crvena zvezda]

"Recognition slow, Belgrade could cooperate"
15 March 2008 | 15:37 | Source: VOA, Tanjug
WASHINGTON -- The number of countries that recognized Kosovo's unilateral secession is lower than expected, Daniel Serwer says.

Serwer, vice-president of the United States Institute of Peace, an institution established and funded by the U.S. Congress, warned that Serbia, "despite this tactical success", still finds itself "in a blind alley", since it is moving toward Russia, instead of toward the EU.

"There's the important strategic question: does Serbia want to be a part of Europe? EU membership carries with it certain conditions, one of which is the solution of the Kosovo issue," Serwer said.

Officials in Brussels have so far insisted that Kosovo's status and Serbia's EU integration were unrelated issues.

Serwer also told VOA that "Serbia must solve the status of Kosovo" in order to avoid an isolationist trend.

"Serbia could tell Russia tomorrow that there is consensus in Belgrade on the issue of Kosovo's status, including the extradition of Ratko Mladiæ to the Hague, and that it will try to over time establish good relations with Priština, and allow it [Kosovo] to become a UN member," Serwer suggested.

As for the May 11 ballot in Serbia, he believes it will be a referendum on whether Serbia's priority is to join the EU or to hold on to Kosovo, and that the outcome will determine Serbia's future, "at least for the duration of the parliament".